


Serenity

by MadJaks



Category: Doctor Who, Firefly
Genre: Community: consci_fan_mo, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-30
Updated: 2011-11-30
Packaged: 2017-10-26 17:27:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/285961
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MadJaks/pseuds/MadJaks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor needs somewhere to recover - where better than a ship called Serenity?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Serenity

“It's just a box, Mal...”

Sometimes Mal didn't even know why he kept Jayne on board, except he had the comforting habit of not being anywhere without half a dozen weapons of some sort, and weren't afraid to use them.

“I can see what it is! And if it's _just_ a gorram box then I'm an idiot space-monkey's uncle,” he glared up at Inara as she appeared at the rail above his head, “And _you_ don't need to say nothin' to that, either! What I want to know is, what the hell it's doing on my deck? There ain't nothing should be on my boat without my say so.”

In the corner of the hold the box pulsed and whined – sickly blue and groaning. It was the sort of sound that would have brought Kaylee running if it had been Serenity that made it. Had brought her running, Mal realised with a start, and she would've dashed past him, too, if he hadn't stuck a hand and stopped her.

“I knew it. I knew it wasn't Serenity! She ain't never made no noise like that in her entire life! What's wrong with it?”

“I don't even know what *it* is...”

“An escape pod, surely?” Kaylee shrugged herself out of Mal's grasp, frowning at it. “Though it ain't like no escape pod I ever seen before.”

Jayne snorted. “Escape pod? That thing? It ain't even got a hatch!”

Once again the blue box pulsed and wheezed in its corner.

“It has now.” Mal pointed out, folding his arms as the door swung slowly open.

***

 

Mal hitched a hip against the counter, wincing in sympathy as Simon stuck their unexpected guest with a hypodermic. “As you can see, I've already got a doctor on board, and I don't need another one. But you're welcome to stay until you get your... uh, 'ship' fixed.

The man on the cot glanced up at the hesitation. “Thanks,” he said briefly, and blinked - his grip tightening on the leather jacket spread over his knees. “But I'm not that kind of doctor.” In spite of whatever it was Simon was doing to his shoulder right now he sounded bored, like it was something he repeated, often.

“Kaylee's working on her now.” Mal offered, holding his gaze – anything was preferable to watching Simon poking around inside a body. “Says she's never seen anything quite like her before...?”

“She won't have.” It might have been his imagination but Mal felt like there was a whole wealth of something he wasn't supposed to know about, hiding in that statement - somewhere.

He smiled.“We sure get attached to them don't we?”

The doctor- _D_ octor inclined his head in acknowledgement. “She's saved my life more than once. Is your girl good?”

“My _girl_? You mean Serenity? Why she's a fine-” The _D_ octor raised an eyebrow at him, cutting him off. “Oh, Kaylee? She's not-”

“The Captain forgets she's a girl,” Simon put in quietly, not lifting his head.

“ _She_ forgets she's a girl...” Mal countered, straightening up.

"She does? I can't say that I've noticed.” Something rattled, in a - seemingly - very final manner, into a dish on the far side of the room and Simon paused to look over at him, one hand resting on the Doctor's arm – funny how that already didn't feel quite so curious any more – and Mal spared a second to glare back until he looked away again.

“Be that as it may,” he continued. “Yes, she's good. Best there is. Like all my crew.”

“Careful, Captain, you're making me blush.”

It was lucky for Mal that Simon was busy being engrossed in patching the Doctor back up. “Am I, now? _Really_?” he retorted, “Need I remind you, Simon, that you aren't - technically - part of my crew?” It was a low blow; he didn't need the expression on the Doctor's face to tell him that. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and headed for the door. "And neither's that sister of yours. Dong-luh-mah?" He stopped in the doorway, not bothering to turn round. “Join me when the doc's finished with you, Doctor. I'll be in my cargo hold. You remember the one? The one where you parked your 'Police Box'.”

***

"Wuh duh ma huh tah duh fong kwong duh wai shung,” Mal breathed as he stepped through the - strangely – wooden door and straight onto the Doctor's bridge. If that was even what it was... Whatever else it was, it was sorely damaged, even he could tell that. Feel it, in the faint air of cold, that hung in the cavernous room like it clung to the Doctor's skin.

"Sheh-sheh," smiled the Doctor, brushing past him, “And very elegantly put. Welcome aboard.”

“Ain't the TARDIS great Captain?” Kaylee's face beamed down at them from up near the top of an arch, high overhead. She stroked a hand over the rough looking wall by the junction box she was working on. “'Course she's not feeling so great, right _now_...”

“TARDIS?”

“My ship, Captain.” The Doctor made an all encompassing gesture with his good arm. “Though she's not looking her best right now. Been in the wars, you might say,” he added, a mite too glibly, flashing him a look that Mal chose to ignore.

“Her and you both, I'd say – judging by the state of your shoulder,” he challenged quietly, as the Doctor led him further inside.

“Which, of course, you being a fighting man, would know something about?” the Doctor shot back.

“I've fought for what I believe in, I won't deny it.” Mal stretched out a hand toward the control console they'd fetched up beside, “Me and Zoe, both, just like any folk would.”

“You say that like it's an easy decision to make,” the Doctor replied, walking away from him – reaching out, every so often, to touch a finger to a lever here or smooth a hand over a panel there, wincing a little now and again, though whether from the injury to himself or his ship, Mal couldn't rightly tell.

“Aint't it?” Mal asked, striding round the console in the opposite direction to head him off.

Not looking up the Doctor just sighed, real quiet like, suddenly looking even sicker than he had when he'd staggered out, into Serenity's hold, only a few hours ago - his face a mask of misery and loathing. Mal knew the look, he'd seen it on the faces of men, _good_ men - good soldiers, who'd had lousy generals

“Ain't it?” Mal repeated – Kaylee was down off the wall already, he noted, and heading for the door.

The Doctor raised his head. “I'd always thought so.” he admitted.

***

Jayne stabbed at his breakfast with his fork. “I'm telling you it ain't natural, a guy flying around in a... a 'box' that small-”

“Oh but it _is_ natural,” Kaylee broke in from the other side of the table, “and it ain't small - leastways not on the inside...” She trailed off as six pairs of eyes swivelled in her direction and looked, appealingly, up the table at Mal. “Is it, Captain?”

“Not small at all,” he agreed.

“How does that work then?” Zoe asked, glancing at him.

Mal shrugged. “Don't ask me – I'm not an engineer.”

Wash nudged Kaylee with his elbow. “So, my beautiful lady 'engineer'-”

“Less of that now, dear,” Zoe put in.

“-how _does_ that work then?” Wash smiled across at his wife. “No need to be jealous, my love. You know it's only you I've got eyes for.”

“Me, and those dinosaurs of yours...”

“It's kind of hard to explain if you haven't seen it.” Kaylee toyed with a scrap of bread a moment before popping it into her mouth.

“She's burning inside, blue and cold as ice,” River muttered, nonsensically, into the silence that followed, “and _he_ wants to go back but-” Eyes wild, she threw herself out of her seat, backing away from the table - clutching at her ears. “Too loud. Too LOUD! Metal and screaming and-!”

One, long, leather clad arm closed round her waist from behind – the Doctor had arrived, unannounced - and River arched her back, kicking with her feet as she struggled in his grasp, before all of a sudden going limp against his chest as he swung her bodily off the floor - fending Simon off with an elbow to the stomach as the boy made a grab at him with an anguished, “ _Doctor_! Please she-”

River's head rolled back, her eyes someplace else, as the Doctor muttered, not so much urgently as with purpose, into her ear - one hand lifting to stroke the hair back off of her face, his eyes meeting Mal's over the top of her - and Mal found himself rising to his feet and saying, “Leave him, Simon,” as he put himself between the pair of them.

“But-”

He stuck out a hand. “'Leave him,' I said,” he growled, softly, as Book fell in beside their little group. “She'll be fine. You too Shepherd,” he added, warningly.

“Trust me, I wasn't going to interfere.” Book smiled and, for once, Mal felt like they were sharing a common secret instead of being left wondering what the 'good shepherd' knew that he himself didn't. He stepped back a pace, letting Book take over.

“Well, that's good then,” he asserted, watching the Shepherd draw Simon away to the table and set him down beside Zoe. “Doctor?”

“She'll be fine,” the Doctor said, echoing Mal's own words, as he let River's feet touch the floor again and turned her into his arms, where she clung to him - trembling but dry-eyed. Calmed, like Mal hadn't seen her brother manage (without meds) since that day she'd first woke up.

***

The Doctor looked over Mal's shoulder, to where just about everyone else was gathered round - no doubt trying to make it look like they weren't itching to know what the two of them were talking about.

“It's not often I get a send off."

Mal smiled. "Sometimes it's best not to stick around for one, we both know that. But after nearly a week? This lot weren't about to let you try and sneak off without saying goodbye."

The Doctor took his hand. "Look after River, she needs-”

“Tender handling, I know.”

“Not just that...” The Doctor paused, like he had so many times over the last few days – like there was as much going on his head as in hers, only he had a better handle on it.

“We'll look after her,” Mal vowed.

“And the Shepherd,” the Doctor added, not loosing his grip.

“The Shepherd?”

“Yes,” confirmed the Doctor, “Try not to let him get... 'damaged' any time soon, there might not always be a doctor around when you need one.” He smiled, grimly. “Jayne too, come to that.”

“Jayne can take care of himself...”

The Doctor cast a glance toward the mercenary. “Which is part of your problem. Always has been – always will be. Tell me I'm wrong?”

“I can't,” Mal admitted, not missing the point this time. He stepped back. “Well Doctor, fly safe..” He sketched a vague salute as the Doctor stepped, backward, into his TARDIS, and was already turning away as she hummed to life. “I hope you both find what you need out there somewhere...” he added under his breath, walking to join his crew, as he heard them disappear behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> The Chinese I used in this fic was gleaned from [here](http://fireflychinese.kevinsullivansite.net)
> 
> "Dong-luh-mah?"  
> Are we clear here?
> 
> "Wuh duh ma huh tah duh fong kwong duh wai shung"  
> Holy mother of god and all her wacky nephews/ My God!/ Mamma mia!
> 
> "Sheh-sheh"  
> thank you


End file.
